January Wrap Up

Finally wrapping up January 2021 with a few books I read in that month!
Once again, the time has flown, slipping from in between our fingers like fine sand *sigh*.

What did you do this January? Anything new & exciting? Anything you stayed consistent with? Any good book you read & recommend?

I started off my year with a trip to the mountains & a trek to Dayara Bugyal in Uttarakhand, which was a first for me. I feel as if it’s been rather too long since then! Both Jan and Feb have been choke-full with assignments and my semester exams are coming up as well 😳.

Let’s jump into some reviews of my Jan’ 21 reads!

🌱 A Little Life

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

TW: Every type of abuse x100, self-harm.

Buy it here.

After so much hype and the whole “it will wreck you!!”, by no means did I guess the whole extent of the plot line but I sorta got de-sensitized to all the horrific things the author threw at one of the characters, around whom the story revolves. My dam broke in the last 2.5 pages.
We follow 4 friends- Jude, Willem, Malcolm and JB. We follow them in their 20s, all coming from different backgrounds, with different jobs, young, broke, ambitious and hungry to make their mark in the world, living in New York and follow them through the decades. In this character-driven novel, the author portrays the beautiful friendship of 4 friends, with its jealousy & camaraderie; with its ups & downs. I felt as if I grew old with them as they were so well fleshed out and layered. The story often swings from the present to the past, without any prior notice.

Yanagihara depicts the depth of pain and suffering and emotions and its effect on the human mind & body in such a brutal and tender way. You delude yourself into thinking that things will get better but that is just the power of her simple and effortless writing.

There is something about this behemoth of a book that makes you want to live and not just survive but thrive and go after joyous pursuits.

I did feel some parts were quite exaggerated but that is a deliberate choice made by the author as per several interviews. It could have been cut down a bit though, without losing its essence. I found my attention wavering at a lot of instances but somehow, it always wandered back to the book so thankfully I was able to complete it! Also, it’s hella depressing so I would suggest you read it when you are in the best frame of mind.

You won’t understand what I mean now, but someday you will: the only trick of friendship, I think, is to find people who are better than you are—not smarter, not cooler, but kinder, and more generous, and more forgiving—and then to appreciate them for what they can teach you, and to try to listen to them when they tell you something about yourself, no matter how bad—or good—it might be, and to trust them, which is the hardest thing of all. But the best, as well.

🌱 Take A Hint, Dani Brown

⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Buy it here.

I needed something light-hearted and since I had enjoyed the 1st book in the series, Take a Break, Chloe Brown, I picked up this romantic comedy,
Due to extenuating circumstances, Danika & Zafir end up fake Dating each other as # Doctor Rugbae goes viral. The fake dating trope gave much to be excited about but I didn’t get how the 2 characters, Dani & Zafir, modified it but I was like, well OK, I did sign up for the steaminess 👀.

This had a strong start but in the last part, it just stagnated & became repetitive. I absolutely enjoy starting with a smart, sassy, sexy and confident Dani, who knows what she wants in life and isn’t afraid to go after it plus she makes great jokes. Her playful banter with Zafir, a lover of romance novels, felt so effortless. I’d a grin on my face for the initial part but by the end, I just wanted them to wrap up their issues and feelings, which they kept repeating, especially Dani. Like we got it already! It does touch upon quite a few important topics though: toxic masculinity, anxiety, mental health of males, problems career-oriented womxn face and dealing with grief.
Points for diversity 🙌🏻.

🌱 To Sleep In A Sea Of Stars

⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Buy it here.

A huge beast of a science fiction fantasy and an ambitious book from Paolini, whose Eragon series I had absolutely enjoyed reading and it might have even inspired me to become a writer someday cause if a 15 yr old could write, I could write too at the same age 😤. That was a laughable thought though.

A space odyssey, with Kira Navarez, our spunky protagonist, hurtling through space, who finds an ancient relic & BOOM! Her life is never the same as her mind and body are bound with a weapon possessing an ancient mind of its own, the Soft Blade, which she has to learn to control to stop destroying more lives (she didn’t have the best of control at first so woops!). There is the discovery of Alien life forms, though their meet & greet doesn’t go as Kira had dreams of how it would, and intergalactic space wars with Fast and the Furious-ish chase sequences!
There were too many characters which included a ragtag crew and I quite enjoyed reading about them, especially the space mind AI who provided some dry humour as well.
I’d a problem with how repetitive, info-dumpy & jargon-y it was, which could’ve been scrapped but kudos to the author for so much research and including it all at the end but as a reader, all these big words made no sense to me and felt irrelevant. There were some sitting-on-the-edge of the seat and heart in the throat moments but mostly, the pacing was too slow which hampered in sustaining my attention & put me in a slump.

Planning to read any of these? Let me know in the comments.

Until next time! Bye 👋🏻.